River Valley United Way is in the same boat as many corporations, as the nation’s economy continues its slump.

“Once again we were about 78 percent of the goal,” said Beth Latham, United Way executive director, who reported a total donation of $426,133 from individuals, corporations and organizations in Pope, Yell and Johnson counties during United Way’s past fund-raising campaign.

Latham reported that pledges had remained steady from individuals and businesses that weren’t affected by the economy’s slowdown, such as hospitals and energy companies.

However, corporate matching campaigns and corporate giving has seen a drop.

She said some companies are facing uncertain futures and were “looking at layoffs or closing sites or closing plants. You can’t really justify giving those corporate gifts when people’s livelihoods are at stake,” Latham said.

All but nine of the 43 requests to the agency for financial support were funded. Latham said the problem was not with the program or the goals, but with fewer funds to disperse, the allocation committee had to make some tough choices. “You had to take a hard look at where we will get the most impact, but also look at five and 10 years down the road,” she said. “What are the long-term benefits to this to the community?”

The local United Way is not the only charitable organization with such issues. Latham said organizations and other United Ways were looking to find ways to improve campaigns and increase giving. Partner agency Boys and Girls Club also reported decreased giving by businesses and corporations.

“Some businesses had to pull back their support because they are not in business any longer, or were in dire straits,” said Cathy Andrasik, Boys and Girls Club executive director, “It is understandable that contributions would go first before people lost their jobs.”

The economy has also affected the number of available volunteers, Latham added, saying the organization struggled in finding enough to serve on community investment committees.

“More and more people are having to do more on their jobs,” she said. “People may have left their jobs and were laid off and weren’t replaced, so their job is absorbed by others. That means they also don’t have time to volunteer.” The organization did make the needed number of volunteers to review applications and visit partner agencies to allocating the funds.

Latham said the last time the agency met its goal was about three years ago, when there was “the perfect storm” of good events. She explained that the economy had just begun to turn, and new software allowed better tracking of funds and pledges. It revealed that some of the prior years’ funding had been overlooked. About 12 percent of the pledges each year are automatically written off as unfulfilled, whether it’s because people leave jobs and can’t fulfill the pledge or because they are just not able to meet the amount they had pledged, she said.

“When times get tough, you hit that 12 percent mark pretty regularly,” she said. “Last year, it was about 10 and a half percent.”

The new software’s finding, along with higher contributions meant that the board had several thousand dollars more than what it had planned. Latham said the board decided to reallocate part of the funding, so partner agencies received extra funding that year, and the rest was set aside for the next year’s campaign. “That was a $100,000 boost to our campaign,” she said. “It was money that should have been in the campaign anyway, but we weren’t able to track it. That year we met our goal.”

All United Ways are local and assist local programs. The national organization said that about 99 percent of funds raised during the campaign will stay in the local communities, however, Latham said that actually all of the local funds raised will in some way stay locally.

“One percent goes to United Way World Wide, for the previous year’s campaign. That’s about $5,000. We do things like the golf tournament to raise our own funds to offset that so it’s not coming from the campaign,” she said. Funds for administrative purposes also stay locally through investment from United Way’s two employees.

“It’s churning backing into the community because we live here. We shop here. We eat here. We buy our supplies here. Our kids go to school here,” she said.

Spring time is United Way’s time of volunteer work, engaging the community and advocacy for the organizations funded by United Way.

Upcoming events include a 5K/10K run on May 19 hosted by Arvest Bank, and Day of Caring on April 21, when volunteer groups will be working on projects for several partner agencies.

River Valley United Way began in 1968 as Community Chest when concerned citizens formed the organization for the sole purpose of fund-raising to invest in the needs of the Russellville community. Through the years, River Valley United Way expanded to include all of Pope, Yell and Johnson counties. Non-profit agencies apply for funding each year and go through an interview process before funds are allocated. Companies, businesses and individuals are solicited to pledge funding to the organizations, either through one-time donations, payroll deductions or a combination of the two.

The main thoroughfares in the three counties often display the thermometers showing the rate at which the fund-raising goal has been met.

She said the thermometers are a good public reminder of the campaign, but don’t tell the whole story.

“What they don’t tell you is that behind every dollar, there is a ... senior that has a meal and someone being helped in some way,” Latham said. “There are all these things going on that each one of those ticks off that thermometer are representing. People don’t always connect as personally, unless it’s your child in the program or your mother or grandmother having that meal delivered.”

A video produced last year showed those dollars in action. It was shown at each campaign presentation, and she said it helped people make the connection from their contribution to those it is helping.

“Some people will check the box on their pledge form because it’s kind of an expectation,” she said. “I want you to give because you see the benefit of it in your community.”